NSW lawmakers probe 50 ng/ml roadside drug test threshold for cannabis drivers

In a recent parliamentary committee session, Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison confirmed that the DrugWipe 3S roadside testing devices used by NSW Police are set to detect THC at a concentration of 50 nanograms per millilitre. Greens MLC Cate Faehmann challenged this number, pointing out that both Australian and New Zealand testing standards prescribe a 15 ng/ml cut-off for cannabinoids. Sally Webb, deputy secretary of Transport for NSW, described the enforcement workflow: a positive DrugWipe result triggers a repeat test, a 24-hour licence suspension after a second positive, and a laboratory analysis that determines prosecution at a 10 ng/ml threshold.

A new Labor bill, now in the Legislative Council, seeks to embed the 50 ng/ml limit into law for medicinal-cannabis patients, granting them two warnings before a full licence suspension of at least three months on a third offence. The police force has historically kept the detection threshold confidential, and a police spokesperson directed further queries to the device manufacturer, Securetec. Police Minister Yasmin Catley will be questioned on the upcoming drug-driving reforms at a later committee meeting.